Beltrami Cases now at six, but five are out of isolation period

BEMIDJI -- Beltrami County only had one new case of coronavirus this past week, but officials are staying vigilant with the situation still developing.

"We're still working while things seem like they're going at a slower pace," said Beltrami County Public Health Director Cynthia Borgen. "We're considering what we need to have in place so that we're ready in case there is a surge or a cluster in the community. We're taking advantage of this little bit of a pause, where we can make sure our plan is in place and well established so we can turn that up whenever it's needed."

The new case that was discovered this past week was an inmate at the Beltrami County Jail. According to a press release, the arrested individual was accepted following strict guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health, Center for Disease Control and the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

"We're working closely with MDH in talking to folks who've self-identified that they've been in contact with that individual," Borgen said. "We're concerned about their status and we're finding people are being very responsible in doing what they can in avoiding exposure to other people."

The individual is being quarantined. Additionally, the law enforcement officer who came in contact did have high risk exposure and is also being quarantined.

Borgen said the county department is also considering steps to take as it approaches the date where Gov. Tim Walz's stay-at-home order is set to end.

"We're starting to take a look at what we need to do moving forward as people look to the order potentially ending," Borgen said. "We want to get some good messaging out about people still needing to continue the six-foot distance. People should still be wearing the masks since you can spread the disease before showing the symptoms."

In the state of Minnesota as a whole, there have been 53,787 tests completed with 3,185 positive cases as of Friday. There have been 221 deaths because of COVID-19, while 1,594 are no longer in isolation.

There have been 756 people with coronavirus hospitalized, with 278 hospitalized currently and 111 in ICU rooms.

In surrounding counties, the numbers are:

• Cass County with five.
• Clearwater County with two.
• Itasca County has two.
• Koochiching County has one.
• Marshall County has one.
• Pennington County has one.
• Roseau County has one.
• Lake of the Woods and Hubbard Counties are still at zero.